I'll apologize in advance. I have no idea where this came from, but it demanded to be written. Longer note at the bottom. Fits into the Adventure-verse.
Darius ignored the comings and goings of everyone in the bar around him, preferring to keep his throbbing head pressed against the wet glass of ice-water he'd ordered. Concussion, he was pretty sure. Heading out and finding a hotel to stay in would probably result in him passing out, which was not currently an option. And he really didn't feel like going to a hospital. He wondered briefly if he'd developed some kind of phobia of them, but that didn't seem likely. He just found them highly inconvenient. And annoying. Especially when they pulled out the sedatives when they really weren't needed.
Realizing his eyes had slid shut once more, Darius forced them open again and shifted the glass of water to his other hand, turning his head so he could press it against his other temple. His shift brought his gaze to the man sitting on his other side, who was staring at him oddly. Darius frowned at the man and tried to give him a glare, which only caused the man to snort.
"Bit young to be in a bar, aren't you lad?" The man asked gruffly. Darius thought he should respond with some kind of comeback, but he couldn't think of anything.
"I'll give you a comeback when I think of one." He grumbled, explaining his lack of snappy retort. The man simply snorted again even as the bartender approached the pair with a bundle of cloth in his hand.
"Drink the water and put this on your head you stubborn brat." Jack snorted, edging his glasses up with the palm of his hand.
"You're a stubborn brat." Darius grumbled in retaliation, taking what felt like a bag of ice and pressing it to his other temple. Jack just snorted again, nodding to a customer who'd just called for a refill.
"You're a lot less snarky when you're concussed." He teased as he turned away to fill a glass. Darius just glared at his back, shifting the ice-pack to the top of his head and taking a small sip of his water.
"Shouldn't you see a doctor if you've got a concussion?" The man beside him asked, frowning. He didn't look quite concerned, so Darius decided not to snap at him. At least he wasn't being condescending.
"They'd make me stay overnight." Darius told him. "It's a hassle. Contacting legal guardians. Brother's still in jail. Uncle's hiding from the wrath of some highly pissed-off gods, and I'd rather jump off another cliff before I let the boss know I got another concussion." Darius set the ice-pack on the table and dropped his head on top of it, watching hazily as the man looked up at the ceiling.
"Did you give as good as you got?" The man asked several minutes later, pulling Darius up from his dozing. The boy blinked a few times before shrugging.
"I remember a ton of stuff blowing up, but I'm not sure if we actually managed to hit him. Last thing I remember before I blacked out was hitting the ceiling. Was only out for a few seconds though, so that should be okay." He lifted his head and removed the ice pack, laying his cheek on the counter and dropping the ice-pack on the top of his head, eyes glazing again as he started to doze once more.
Giovanni watched the strange teen out of the corner of his eye as he lingered over his drink. He could tell the barkeeper was keeping an eye on the pair of them as well, but Giovanni didn't plan on starting any trouble, and he was pretty sure the boy was too out of it to do much either. Every couple of minutes, he'd shift in his seat, exaggerating a grunt as he moved his stiff body, watching surreptitiously as the glazed blue eyes would focus on him for a millisecond before hazing over once more. He certainly wasn't worried about the boy, no. Mildly impressed, perhaps slightly worried as to why a boy would be getting a concussion from hitting a ceiling amidst explosions, but not worried. After almost an hour, the barkeep wandered over once more and set down a second drink in front of Giovanni, who frowned at the sight.
"I only ordered one drink." He informed the 'keep. The man simply jabbed a thumb at the dozing teen beside him.
"It's on the house. You may be subtle, but the kid's sharper than Eric's steak-knife collection, and I can tell you've been making sure he doesn't pass out. I appreciate it." Giovanni frowned, contemplating leaving so the man wouldn't have a point, but then he noticed the blue eyes slipping closed again and reached out for the glass, dragging it across the counter for a second before bringing it to his mouth.
"I've got a son about his age." Giovanni admitted grudgingly after the eyes had flickered open again and glazed over. "Was he being serious about getting that concussion from hitting a ceiling?" The barkeep blinked and shrugged, snagging an empty glass from a few seats over and wiping it down to give his hands something to do.
"Probably. He's still got little bits of rock-dust in that mess of hair of his." Someone at the other end of the bar grunted, and the keep nodded to Giovanni, wandering over to get a coherent order out of the drunkard. Giovanni glanced down at the watch on his wrist and sighed. It was going to be a long night.
Darius opened his eyes several hours later to find himself laid out in one of the booths in the bar Jack worked in. He took several seconds to catalogue his memories; heading to Cerulean City, entering the cave following rumours of a violent Pokemon, finding said Pokemon and getting into a fight. Memories were fuzzier after he hit the ceiling, but he remembered having Ayashii Teleport him to Goldenrod, hoping to find Ricky or Jack so they could keep an eye on him while he waited out the concussion. He stumbled upon Jack's bar first, so he'd wandered in, muttered his story to the startled part-time gambler and fallen down on the counter. Apparently he'd passed out after that.
Memories, as they were, in order, Darius proceeded to take in his current surroundings. In one of the bar's booth tables, which meant Jack must have moved him at some point. And there was a pair of legs clad in black slacks in the booth across from him. Darius sat up, automatically bringing a hand up to press against his suddenly spinning vision.
"The barkeep thought it would be better for you to sleep in one of the booths, rather than sprawled out across the counter." The man across the table from Darius said, taking a sip from his glass of water. Darius blinked at him for a few seconds before shifting himself so he was sitting normally.
"Who are you?" He asked cautiously. His head still throbbed slightly, but he had the feeling the man was familiar for some reason.
"My name is Giovanni." The man said after a moment of hesitation. "I was sitting next to you at the counter last night." He hesitated again before leaning forward with a frown. "Did you really get that concussion from hitting a ceiling?"
It was Darius's turn to hesitate, but it only took a second for him to mentally shrug. "I was asked to investigate a sighting of a powerful pokemon in Cerulean city. He didn't like me intruding on his home." Giovanni stared at him silently, glass of water resting forgotten in his hand, halfway to his mouth. Darius stared right back.
"And you're still alive?" The older man finally asked incredulously. Darius blinked before leaning back, looking Giovanni over with a critical eye.
"I take it you're familiar with my opponent." Giovanni paled slightly, obviously not having intended to give such a thing away. Treading carefully, suddenly wary of the sharp glint in the teen's eye, Giovanni nodded.
"I knew some of the scientists who created him. As well as some children who managed to control him."
"Control?" Darius blinked, and Giovanni squeezed his glass of water.
"That's not quite the right word I suppose. He's allied himself with them. Protected them when they were in danger. Though I believe they're not friends."
"Allies, then." Darius nodded, sighing and rising to his feet. "Thanks for the info Giovanni. If he's been peaceful towards at least one person, then there's a reason for his continuing violence towards everyone else." The boy took a few steps and paused as someone pushed the doors at the front of the bar open. The newcomer glanced around and grinned when he saw Darius.
"You bolted pretty far this time kiddo!" The man laughed, practically bouncing over to Darius, clapping a hand on the teen's shoulder. "Took me practically all night to find you this time! The boss thought you'd pulled something and sent me out to track you down!" He leaned closer to the boy, giving him a conspiring wink. "You do anything illegal?" Darius rolled his eyes and shrugged the man's hand off his shoulder.
"Destroying Cerulean City public property, avoiding doctors, and getting info from sources Looker would foam at the mouth over. You know Johnny; the usual." Johnny blinked at the last one, frowning marginally at the teen.
"How foamy? Are we talking Tyler-level-foamy? Subordinate-level-foamy? Brother-level-foamy?"
"Probably Uncle level foamy, with more screaming and handcuffs." Darius shrugged. In his seat, Giovanni was trying very hard not to sweat. He had no clue who Looker was, but it sounded like he was a cop. And the kid was talking about bosses and sources, which meant the teen was probably a cop too. A cop who obviously recognized the ex-leader of Team Rocket.
"Darius, if Looker finds out you've been anywhere near any other gang organizations…"
"He won't." Darius said, looking rather pointedly at the other man. "And besides, Uncle's retired isn't he?"
"Isn't every gang member you've butted heads with 'retired'?" Johnny retorted, his grin returning to his face. "I don't suppose you're going to tell me who your informant was."
"If I blabbed about every one of my sources to Looker, I'd have no sources." Darius laughed, stepping towards the door and bringing his fellow cop trailing in his wake.
"I'm not sure if that's a comment about Looker's attitude or the legality of your sources." Johnny grumbled, following the teen out the door. Giovanni stared after them for several minutes before he let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Allowing himself a small grin, Giovanni rose to his feet, dropping some money on the table and exiting the bar. He was tired, and he fully intended to get a good morning's sleep. Not in a jail cell.
AN: Just in case you were wondering, Jack and Ricky (the two people Darius was looking for in the first place) are from the Interlude chapter for IWTIAATH. They were the other two gamblers that Darius played the pants off, along with Jordan, who made an appearance several chapters later in the art museum. Giovanni refers to events in the Pokemon Adventures manga (although I don't think you had to have read them to understand this one-shot). If it wasn't obvious, the pokemon Darius faced was Mewtwo.
Also, pardon my concussion-mumbles. I know little about them, but I know if you're out for a certain length of time right after impact, that can be very bad, and it's not a good idea to pass out either. Other than that, ask me to map the layout of muscles in the body and the best way to work tension out of a pulled muscle. Don't ask me how everything else works…
One more thing; this is entirely stand-alone. There will be no sequel, and there will be no prequel. Not to this one, though it does fit in after IWTIAATH, and before the unwritten sequel. I just had a dream about Darius having a concussion in a bar and had to write it out. Actually, in my dream I think he was drunk, but he's a teen, and teens are minors. So he had a concussion, 'cause that's more likely in my world.